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These twelve handprints discovered on
the Indonesian island of Sulawesi are
truly sensational. 50 years ago, they and
other animal paintings were found in a
cave here, but it was not until last year
that it was possible to date them precisely.
Given the tropical environment, archae-
ologists had previously assumed that the
paintings could not have been more than
10,000 years old. It was not until this past
year that elaborate dating methods actual-
ly proved that the delicate and stencil-like
handprints are 40,000 years old, making
Show of hands
them currently the oldest such paintings
in the world. This finding offers the world
of science completely new insights. Previ-
ously the cave paintings found in Europe
were thought to be the oldest and best-
known of their kind.
Whether detailed or abstract, such paint-
ings served to save messages and pass on
information. Today, the evidence of these
early communications gives us exciting in-
sights into what life was like thousands of
years ago, while at the same time posing
so many new questions.
Photo: © Kinez Riza